Pie divider



April 7, 1942. H. P. FEST 2,278,774-

PIE DIVIDER Filed Ap-ril- 24, 1939 INVENTOR AER/WW A 555? ATTORNEYPatented Apr. 7, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- 7 Claims.

My invention relates to a divider for pies, and the like.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide anextremely simple device whereby a pie, or the like, may be uniformlydivided into Various size pieces.

An important object of this invention is the provision of such means onthe outer or the peripheral portion of the receptacle containing thepie, or the like, and such means which may be readily placed at or movedto various dividing positions.

An important object also of this invention is the provision of suchmeans, on or in connection with the peripheral portion of a piecontaining receptacle, which is provided with a pivoted or otherwisemovable knife which may be readily raised free of the pie, or contentsof the receptacle, so that the knife may be moved freely from oneposition to another while dividing and without disturbing the pie, orthe like. 7

With these and other objects in view, as will appear hereafter, I havedevised a novel device for dividing pies, cakes, and the like, as willbe hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in theappended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and tothe characters of reference thereon, which form a part of thisapplication, in which:

Fi 1 is a plan View of my device in combination with a pie plate;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken through 2-2 of Figure 1, andshowing by dotted lines the dividing knife in a raised position; and,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective View of my device.

The receptacle is in the form of a shallow receptacle I, simulating theconventional pie plate, and has a flat bottom I, upwardly inclined wallsl and a laterally extending peripheral flange or ledge l.- This flangeor ledge has at its upper side an arcuate channel I radially outwardlyfrom the walls l or the depression of the receptacle. At the under sideof this flange or ledge, and radially outwardly from the channel I is anarcuate groove I". The cross-sections, respectively of the channel I andthe groove I, are curved or round, as will be hereinafter referred to.

On the flange or ledge is slidably mounted a support, slide, or clip,which consists of a bifurcated member II, a spring l2, and a bracket [3.This bracket supports the dividing knife 2|.

The member I I is made of a resilient plate, and the opposite furcationsH and, ll thereof, re-

spectively engage the upper and lower sides of the flange or ledge l Theconnecting portion H" of the member H is in the form of a loop. Inaddition to the resiliency of the plate I l itself, I have provided thespring l2 which is cylindrical in construction, encloses the loop I I?and engages'the opposite sides of the member H at the ends of thefurcations immediately beyond the peripheral edge of the receptacle. Oneside of the spring I2 is secured in any suitable manner to the outer endof the looped portion H.

The bracket l3, aforementioned consists of closely spaced angle clips,one of the flanges I3 of each being secured to the upper furcation Iland the other flanges |3 of which extend upwardly therefrom in spacedrelation.

The knife 2| consists of a relatively thin plate which is reduced at theouter end 2 l and is pivotally mounted at this end between the spacedflanges l3 of the bracket l3. This knife extends from its pivotalmounting radially inwardly toward the central axis of the receptacle.The bottom edge of the knife, when the latter is in its finished cuttingposition, engages the bottom I of the receptacle, the inclined side walll and the upper face of the ledge inwardly from the channel I When theknife is in its lower position, a projection 2| enters the channel I asshown in Figure 2.

At the inner end of the upper edge of the knife is provided a suitablegrip 22, which may be in the form. of a ball. With this grip the knifemay be readily raised from its low position, and again presseddownwardly when the support is moved to a new position.

At the inner side of the furcation ll is provided an arcuate ridge Mwhich is adapted to enter and ride in the groove I so that the supportmay be easily shifted around the peripheral portion of the pie plate andguided by the ridge I4 and groove I in such a manner that the knife 2|always extends radially towards the center of the pie plate. Theconstruction of the support, however, is such that the same, togetherwith the knife may be readily removed from the ledge of the pie plate.

On the upper side of the ledge, outwardly from the channel I areprovided, in any suitable manner, numerals 2 which designate thepositions to which the support is to be shifted for cutting the pie, orthe like, into the desired number of pieces. The upper furcation ll ofthe clip H has a cutaway or index portion l I which facilitates theproper location of the support or clip, the latter being shifted so thatthe desired division or numeral 2 is located Within the recess ll ThoughI have shown and described a particular construction, combination, andarrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to thesame, but desire to include in the scope of my invention theconstruction, combination, and arrangement substantially as set forth inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a, receptaclehaving a channelled peripheral edge, a slide movably mounted thereon andretained thereby, and a cutter pivoted on the slide so as to extend intoand to the middle portion of the receptacle and to be raised therefrom.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a flatreceptacle having a flat horizontal peripheral ledge with a circulargroove at the underside, a resilient clamp slidably engaging theopposite sides of the ledge and having an arcuate ridge for guiding theclamp in the groove, and a cutter pivoted on the clamp so as to extendinto and to the middle portion of the receptacle and to be raisedtherefrom.

3. In a device of the class described, the com bination of a receptaclehaving a ledge at its periphery, a support, means for variously securingthe support to said ledge in such a manner as to allow said support to'slide on said ledge, and a cutter mounted on the support so as toextend into and to the middle portion of the receptacle.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receptaclehaving a ledge at its periphery, a clip adapted to be resilientlyclamped and variously positioned on said ledge, and a cutter mounted onthe clip so as to extend into and to the middle portion of thereceptacle.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receptacle,a support, means for variously securing the support to the edge portionof the receptacle in such a manner as to allow sliding movement of onerelative to the other, and a cutter mounted on the support so as toextend into and to the middle portion of the receptacle.

6. In a device of the class described, a receptacle having a guide meansat its peripheral portion, a slide movably mounted on the guide means,and a cutter carried by the slide.

7. In a device of the class described, a receptacle having a guide meansat its peripheral portion, said guide means comprising relativelaterally ofi-set portions extending around the periphery, a slidemovably mounted on the guide means in interlocking relation with respectto said off-set portions, and an operating member carried by the slide.

- HERMAN P. FEST.

